Prince Harry and a group of six other high-profile figures have been ordered to make an initial payment of £9.54m in legal costs to the Daily Mail’s publisher after they lost their High Court privacy case.
The seven claimants, also including Sir Elton John and Liz Hurley, must pay the initial figure by 28 August – and could potentially pay up to £25m more after that in a victory for Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).
The group had sued ANL over allegations of unlawful information-gathering, which the publisher had strenuously denied.
On 7 July, Judge Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed the claims and said the public figures had failed to prove the allegations.
The judge ruled that he was making an exceptional order to force the Duke of Sussex and others to pay up to £34.5m in costs incurred by the newspaper group because of the way the case had been brought – including unsupportable claims that top executives from the group had lied to the Leveson public inquiry.
Prince Harry and the other six claimants including Sir Elton John have until 2 October to attempt to launch an appeal.
The judge also ruled that ANL’s costs should be determined on an indemnity basis, which is more favourable to the publisher in terms of the amount it can recover, aside from where orders had already been made.
In a statement released on Friday, the publisher called the ruling ” a devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives”.
Friday’s decision comes just days after the Duke and Duchess announced their plan to return to the UK, with their children Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, enrolled to start school in September.
The seven claimants who have been ordered to pay an initial £9.5m in the coming week are Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, Sir Simon Hughes, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
During the trial, dozens of people gave evidence including Prince Harry and the other claimants. The Duke of Sussex flew in from the US to attend court in person.
Many current and former Associated Newspapers journalists and executives gave evidence denying illegal activity.
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